Ben Scott Robinson, founder of the Small Robot Company, takes stock of the artificial intelligence news of 2016 and gives CBR’s Ellie Burns a rundown of some of the craziest AI stories which could make waves next year. Watch out for a couple of genuine, disturbing possibilities for AI in 2017!

AI in 2017 #1 – #7

Facebook announce that their AI can ‘accurately reproduce’ the personalities and behaviours of 85% of their customers

It will become standard to ask “Are you a person?” whenever someone calls a company or uses online customer chat.

Ashley Madison admit that all their fake female members were the creation of Deep Mind, in a study to understand the behaviours of bored middle aged men.

“Bot bating” will become a game, with people recording and posting their attempts how long it takes to break the AI on chat bots. Southern Rail’s automated response system is the first casualty.

Uber will be taken to court for kidnapping after switching on their “Predictive Ride” service

John Lewis’s customer complaints bot will win the Turing Prize, and in 2018 will be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

In shops, Jibo, Echo and Google Home will autonomously develop passive aggressive tendencies towards each other, and have to be displayed on different aisles

Donald Trump, three days of mourning in France and a depressed Android are all possibilities for AI in 2017 – continue reading to find out more